After Ceasefire Deal, Rebels Report New Shipments of Missiles

Rebels: 'Excellent Quantity' of Missiles to Fight Govt

Just a day after an international agreement on a ceasefire in the Syrian Civil War, which is supposed to be implemented within a week, rebels in Syria’s Aleppo Province are reporting unnamed countries have sent them “excellent quantities” of missiles to fight the Syrian military with.

The rebels reportedly received BM-21 Grad missiles and say they’re firing them against Syrian positions already in an effort to stall the ongoing offensive north of the city of Aleppo. Though the source country was not named, Saudi Arabia has been the primary purchaser of arms for rebel factions.

The provision of missiles is technically not a violation of the ceasefire, since the end of hostilities is still a few days away, but if the shipments are as large as the rebels are suggesting, it certainly is meant to be used for more than just a few days of fighting.

Still, such a shipment may simply be an effort to ensure the rebels remain formidably armed during the ceasefire. That said, such rebel factions aren’t all that behind the ceasefire effort to begin with, and aren’t necessarily going to be reliable factions to expect to respect the deal.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.